Let the buyer beware…

Let the buyer beware…

Have you ever leased a car? Were you ever able to “just swap out” for a new one and “keep paying the same price”? That is not how leases work. There are all sorts of little issues like early termination fees, residual value adjustments, excessive wear charges, etc. etc. Car companies like Nissan come from a proud tradition of ripping people off with leases.

I cannot imagine anyone will plunk down $25-$30k on a little electric hatchback and then be captive to Nissan for future spare parts and upgrades. It is like buying a cell phone with a 10 year service contract. Yikes!

I really like the Leaf but this battery leasing idea is just dumb. Sell the car. Warrant the car with a guaranteed buy-back on the battery in the future.

Have you ever leased a car? Were you ever able to “just swap out” for a new one and “keep paying the same price”? That is not how leases work. There are all sorts of little issues like early termination fees, residual value adjustments, excessive wear charges, etc. etc. Car companies like Nissan come from a proud tradition of ripping people off with leases.

I cannot imagine anyone will plunk down $25-$30k on a little electric hatchback and then be captive to Nissan for future spare parts and upgrades. It is like buying a cell phone with a 10 year service contract. Yikes!

I really like the Leaf but this battery leasing idea is just dumb. Sell the car. Warrant the car with a guaranteed buy-back on the battery in the future.

Yes, there is a lot of research, yes, more than other years, but the last years have been not empty of investigation and see, we are still with Ni-MH in AAA rechargables and ion-lithium in computers and cell-phones.

So, I hope to be wrong, but any technology needs some time to be tested and perhaps in 2015 we will still to wait some time to ultracapacitators and other technologies that multiply 10x ion-Lithium to be cost and safe effective and we can say: uf! thanks that they invented the NMC that doubles the ion-li and has helped the electric and hybrid car “explosion”, so, helping also to derive money to investigate Ultrcapacitators and the technology that should come after them.

But, yes, I can understand your impatience and your thoughts reading what we read here. I’ve been new technologies journalist for some time, and i have to say, that too much of the “discoveries” are only marketing and never became true. See all the private space companies than ten years ago where going to let all us to reach the moon affordably (well, I need more than that) or the compressed air cars… all these guys were “one year to” complete their technology… but the years passed and we saw something very different in the real world. Sometimes for good, sometimes for bad.

So, believe in miracles (10x batteries), but don’t underestimate medicines (2x batteries), ok?

Yes, there is a lot of research, yes, more than other years, but the last years have been not empty of investigation and see, we are still with Ni-MH in AAA rechargables and ion-lithium in computers and cell-phones.

So, I hope to be wrong, but any technology needs some time to be tested and perhaps in 2015 we will still to wait some time to ultracapacitators and other technologies that multiply 10x ion-Lithium to be cost and safe effective and we can say: uf! thanks that they invented the NMC that doubles the ion-li and has helped the electric and hybrid car “explosion”, so, helping also to derive money to investigate Ultrcapacitators and the technology that should come after them.

But, yes, I can understand your impatience and your thoughts reading what we read here. I’ve been new technologies journalist for some time, and i have to say, that too much of the “discoveries” are only marketing and never became true. See all the private space companies than ten years ago where going to let all us to reach the moon affordably (well, I need more than that) or the compressed air cars… all these guys were “one year to” complete their technology… but the years passed and we saw something very different in the real world. Sometimes for good, sometimes for bad.

So, believe in miracles (10x batteries), but don’t underestimate medicines (2x batteries), ok?